acdii

Ijust aquired one of these from a friend who is clearing out his basement. It hasnt been completed yet, but has a DA100 on it, a Powerbox 40/24, and a JR 12X radio. The Lion pacs are dead, they have not been maintained since 2004, so need replacements. Anyome flying one of these, and how do they handle? Any tips on building to look for?

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

Contack Andy Kane or Ray Labonte, the North America reps for Comp ARF to see if you can get an instruction book. I may be wrong here but from some of your posts and the " Vibe " I get about your experience I would urge you to find a local guy who has experience with this type of airplane or sit on it for a while. The 100cc+ airplanes have no forgivness.

acdii

We found the manual and just about all the parts to build it. Missing one wing nut still, but have the manual now.  Already have the flight line picked out for the maiden, nice and long, and no barn of obstructions to deal with for taking off and landing. Looks like this one will be a hot lander, and since my other planes are setup to land a little faster now, should be good progression to this one.  I have a Funtana S 90 too, which is what I will practice on before taking this one up.  Going to do the usual 3 mistakes high to see where it stalls and what it does when it stalls. I may also check out some of the clubs to see if anyone there flies this plane.  Not very many choices though, they are at least an hour away in any direction.

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

Just remember to idle up a few hundred RPM from taxi RPM while in flight. The big twins like to die during stalls and spins if the idle is too low. Make sure the CG is not too far forward, this will increse landing speed, a hard landing will break the landing gear plate and tear up the hole in the fuse where the gear leg inserts. This has alot to do with the gear legs being held in place with only two bolts each. If you are interested, you can post some pictures of your setup before the maiden and I could point out anything obvious that I may find. I have built a couple dozen Comp ARF Extra's. I even have a couple of the 3M versions in the garage waiting for a pick up in the economy or when the teens are self supporting LOL

acdii

Hey thanks. I will do that. I will probably have a lot of questions getting this setup just right.  When I built my 4*120 I based it on past experiences flying my other planes, and spent a lot of time making sure every throw was dead on, and the CG was perfect.  When I maidened it, 2 clicks right aileron was all that was needed.   Since I will be using either a DX8, or JR 12X I will probably setup an idle up switch for landings based one what you said.  idle for ground handling and taxi, and idle up for takeoff and landing.  Something to play with on the Funtana S. 

I've been looking up the esc and motor that was installed, Jeti Hacker Master 90 Acro ESC, and motor, still trying to determine the motor. Looks like it might be a C50  something XL, the label is on the back and I would have to remove the motor to find out.  Once I determine what size pack to use, and get one,I can go about setting it up, and get some idea on how to setup the 330L, they both use dual elevator servos,  wing servos, the only big difference other than size is one is gas the other electric, but I can set an idle up on the electric too.

As far as balancing, it said to balance at the tips, but my arms just aren't long enough.

zacharyR

My Feedback: (5)

dunno about your model..


BUT ALOT OF Newer Comp arf's with counter balances on control surfecs require balancing of the the surf /counter balance tab ..

I've seen thread's where this was not done and the end result was Flutter and a wrecked airframe..

just a heads up wroth looking into

acdii

I think I will make this my build thread then. I haven't read much in the manual, and some of the work has already been done, but it looks like some of the hardware may need to be replaced, he has aluminum servo arms with ball links to clevis on the control surfaces, and when I powered up one wing, the servos were howling. I got them centered a bit more, now need to fine tune with the balance box. 

acdii

So, has anyone Simmed this plane in RF 6?  Does it fly pretty close to the sim?    Definitely a fast handful, so you betcha gonna get more experience in before this plane leaves the ground!

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

Not an issue if correctly set up. Sounds like guys were skimping on servos or power systems. The 3M version has an issue of the rudder wanting to occilate at high speed but the fix is easy enough, simply slit a 3/16 fiberglass tube and slip it over the trailing edge of the rudder. For mine, I would always remove the last 1/4" off the rudder trailing edge and cap with new fiberglass. Either way it is not nesessary to add weight to the counterbalances, these airplanes tend to come out taill heavy as it is.

zacharyR

My Feedback: (5)

soooooooooooo let me get this stright .. IF THE PLANE IS SET UP CORRECLTY ITS NOT A ISSUE ?? shocking .. .. just shocking.. ( IE that would mean balancing the counter balances... like it states in the manaul.. )

dude thats what im telling this guy seems like you qouted me to counter my post with your own qoute .. ... thanx dude ..

bet you alot of new comp arf guys don't read about blancing the counter balance becouse it's not common in other airplanes... so i kinda wish you bumped me not counter qouted me ...

also im talking about blancing the surface not the whole airplane.. IE the balance part of the control surface needs to equal to the surface part of the surface.. sound slike you " adding weight " counter qoute is refering to blancing the airframe it's self I'm talking about vary minor over all total weight
but whatever..[:@]

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

First off, I have built lots of Comp ARF Extras not only for myself but for other people as well. Never once did I put weight in the counter balances not once was it an issue. I knew what you ment from the start but it does add weight to the TAIL and on all Comp ARF airplanes you want to keep weigth OFF the tail whenever possible. This is especially true with the blade spar version. They somewhat corrected it with the re-tool to wing tube but you still don't want anything additional on the tail. I know these airplanes in and out, I was flying them when Andreas was Fiberclassics before he moved the manufacturing to Thiland and became Composite ARF.

zacharyR

My Feedback: (5)

http://www.chiefaircraft.com/pdf/car...structions.pdf


guess You where right MR comp arf pro.. .. by all mean's i have shouldn't try to point out a quark that could possiably cause a crash ... that's unqiue to this type of airplane's


qoute's from COMP'S MANAUL ...

This Section is mandatory, not an option!
It is important to semi balance the elevator to assist in
preventing flutter. You will need to epoxy 15 grams of lead
into the elevators balance tab. This is a simple procedure
and will not detract from the performance of your model.
Make a hole in the inner edge at the front of the elevator
balance tab, large enough to accommodate the 15grams of
lead. A RC car body reamer makes this job pretty simple.
Fishing sinkers make ideal weights, and come in some
various sizes and shapes.
Apply some epoxy through the hole to the area where the
lead will sit. Push the 15gram lead piece into place and let
the epoxy set. Make sure you have enough epoxy on and
around the weight, so it won’t break loose!


This section is mandatory, not an option!
It is important to semi balance the aileron to assist in
preventing flutter. You will need to epoxy 20 grams of lead
into the elevators balance tab. This is a simple procedure
and will not detract from the performance of your model. Use
the same procedure used when assembling the elevators.
However there is an increase in the weight to 20 grams!

same story on this one

http://www.chiefaircraft.com/pdf/car...structions.pdf

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

Well yes it would appear that they are counterbalancing now. Wasn't always the case. Like I stated ealier, I have built ATLEAST 20 Comp ARF Extras and never put weight in the conterbalances and it was never an issue. Granted, I have not built one for a few years so I did speak without checking for updates. If I had one here I was building now would Iadd the lead to the counterbalances? No I would not. I would use good quality 300 oz plus titanium geared servos and make sure the linkage remained tight. With enough servo power and tight linkages it really is a non issue. IMO Comp ARF is covering their butts for the guys that are trying to save money on servos.

acdii

I can confirm, the older CARF doesn't mention anything about counterbalancing the elevators. The one I have has JR 8611 servos all around.

speedracerntrixie

My Feedback: (29)

It should be fine, The 3M that I flew to second place advanced class season championship back in "06 had hundreds of flights on it without issue. When you do your build thread we can get more detailed on this and other items. You have inspired me to get the old 3M out and continue with the rebuild. Getting ready for the "07 season, I had a dead stick and ripped the gear out. During the repair I decided to put a killer paint job on her but life got in the way and I never finished. This winter looks like a good time to get back on it.

zacharyR

My Feedback: (5)

good luck with your winter project trixie let's see some airbrushed final pics !

Tony Hallo

I'm surprised at the low weight, 15 grams about 1/2 ounce, 20 grams about 3/4 ounce. Not much weight. Wonder how they determined the weight requirements?

acdii

Well last night I downloaded a much closer plane for RF, and flew it. Sweet flying once I got the feel of it. Even got some 3D in. Wasnt pretty, but it did hover, without crashing.  I only had one mishap with it, came in too fast and missed the runway.  I should get enough sim time in before it is ready to fly.